16 November,2016 08:40 AM IST | | Suprita Mitter
Twinkle Khanna's book launch last night saw all the expected — big names from Ranbir Kapoor to Alia Bhatt and more, a battle of wit and classy glamour. Here's a lowdown
Let me call on stage Alia Bhatt who now knows who the President of India is," said Karan Johar in his characteristic sarcasm-laced wit, taking on his chat-show host avatar. "One second, Karan, do you know the full form of MNS?" interrupted a sharp-toned Twinkle Khanna, managing to keep a straight face. "I only know the full form of PMS. Which is what I'm going through these days," was his prompt repartee.
Alia Bhatt
You felt the ribbing was from a leftover edit of KJ's popular chat show that featured the actress and husband Akshay Kumar just this Sunday. But, this was the launch of her second book, The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad, after the hugely popular Mrs Funnybones hit shelves last year. In true filmy style, the event kicked off late at a Juhu five-star, and journalists worried about making it in time for the Befikre music launch. Homi Adajania (who directed Twinkle's mother, Dimple Kapadia in Being Cyrus and Finding Fanny) was heard making jokes about trying to find Parsi extras for a film. While talks of jewellery and fittings filled the room, we spotted eight-month-pregnant publisher Chikki Sarkar bonding with Akshay, director R Balki, actresses Sonali Bendre Bahl, Dimple Kapadia and celebrity photographer Atul Kasbekar.
What we loved, though, was that amid all the glamour and friendly banter, the reading of excerpts from three of the four short stories written by Twinkle, remained the highlight of the evening. Read by Shabana Azmi, Alia and Ranbir Kapoor, these, along with Twinkle's nimble hold on words emerged as winners of a glitzy affair. Known to aim her humour barbs at current affairs heroes, she compared KJo to a 100 rupee note whose value was being realised during a crunch. "You could have said R500. You shortchanged me again," he laughed at his childhood friend. Right there, as if on cue, a popular bookstore had set up stall to hawk copies of the new release, and patrons were seen being expressly told, "we accept cards".
Dimple Kapadia and Aarav Kumar
